gluten free 201.

why do reactions to gluten seem to get worse over time?

this is a great questions, and the answer i'm going to give you is completely void of any doctor's perspective, it's simply the story i've made up to make this make sense for me. here goes -

when i was first diagnosed with celiac disease, i had absolutely no noticable, physical reaction when i would eat gluten. that's probably why i was so convinced that i didn't have the disease! over time, i started to notice that if i accidentally ingested some gluten, i would have a bit of a reaction. those reactions have definitely gotten worse & intensified over time, and my wildest reactions have probably been within the past year. i have polled many people with celiace disease on this topic, and almost every single person i spoke with has had the same experience.

i view it this way - i think my body was just so beat up from being celiac and not knowing it, that it didn't even have the gumption to react. but over time, as my small intestine healed and my body began to get closer to good health, i started to react more and more. i feel as though this was a good example of my small intestine coming back to life, and regaining some sort of health - so much so that then it was hit with any gluten, it actually had the gumption to react!

another aspect of this is that many people with celiac disease, sadly, will develop one ore more other autoimmune diseases. once this has happened, a reaction to gluten (because it's an autoimmune reaction) can trigger flare ups of other autoimmune diseases. this will make the direct, and indirect, reaction to gluten more intense, and can cause the symptoms to stray far from the typical gastrointestinal ones.

how not to be the geek.

the people in your life are probably interested in the fact that you are newly (or a seasoned veteran of) gluten free. that being said, they'd probably rather not hear about it ALL the time. there's a time and a place to talk about it, but i find that most people don't want to hear you go on and on about your gluten free-ness. there's much more to you than your diagnosis of celiac/gluten sensitivity, so make sure the people around you get to see that!

i have had quite a few encounters with other gluten free folks and throughout the course of an evening i'll hear the words "gluten free" soooo many times. gluten free this, gluten free that... of course it's an important part of your life, but do your best not to let it be the only part of your life. don't let your need to be gluten free consume you - continue to do the things you enjoy to keep from being swallowed up by the big g boogie man.

other ways to keep your social life intact are to keep your explanations to a minimum - or even keep them neutral some times. for example, if you're offered something that is blatantly gluten-containing, it's totally okay to just say no thank you, as opposed to going into the whole store of "well i'd really love to but i can't because see i had really bad bowel movements and then i found out that.......". no thanks sounds good ;) that being said, don't let this stop you from being your own advocate - there are plenty of times where you need to ask the questions, and don't ever be ashamed of that! i would recommend these couple of tips, which are also discussed in more detail in going out to eat and navigating a wedding.

1. call ahead to a restaurant/event venue to ask the questions and do your research beforehand.

2. at a restaurant/bar, instead of talking to the server across the table and making everyone sit through your question and answer period as you find something safe to eat/drink, ask the server if he/she can come over right beside you and then you can have a more private conversation and you won't have to yell.

3. bring something scrumptious. in a social situation where there is being food served at someone's house, always bring something that looks (and tastes) amazing. this way you'll have something great to eat, and you'll leave a great impression on other people about how delicious it can be to eat gluten free! check out going to a potluck for more information.

keeping costs down.

is it really possible? yes! my dear friends, it is entirely possible to eat completely gluten free, while keeping your expenses similar to what they were pre-gluten free. here are some tips on how to do that:

1. find a local farmer's market/farm market store front. i have a favorite one of these that is open all year round - it's a store front market with produce galore. i spend $40 a week and bring home enough food to fill my fridge almost to capacity. these veggies turn into shepard's pie, lettuce wraps, stews, soups, stir fries, etc. and the fruit is for our snacks, desserts, smoothies, and pretend ice cream ;). this constitutes the bulk of most of our meals.

2. meat straight from the farm. buying half a cow might be daunting, but there are farms everywhere who sell meat straight from the cows they raise. i like this because then i know what these animals are being fed, and i've got pretty serious standards as far as the quality of food that comes into our house. the flip side of buying straight from the farmer is that the prices are great. we usually buy ground beef, for example, that is non-medicated, no antibiotics, etc, for $2 per pound. pretty awesome.

3. stock up. when it comes to buying gluten free specific products, we stick to a few basics - bread, pancake/baking mix, pizza crust and pasta. and for these things, i buy them in multiples when they're on sale, so i very rarely pay full price. they are definitely more expensive than their gluten-containing counterparts, but we use them far less than we would have before so i'd say it evens out.

4. mainstream products. these are always going to be less expensive than the specific gluten free products, and many mainstream products just happen to be gluten free. for example, kraft is an easy company to work with - they tell us that they will list any sources of gluten very obviously in their ingredients lists. and as it turns out, many of their products are safe for us to use, which allows us to buy salad dressing, for example, for the same price as the rest of the world pays for their salad dressing. condiments, spices and sauces are great places to find mainstream products that happen to be safe for us. salsa, pasta sauce, potato chips, corn tortillas, etc... for each of these things, you'll need to do your homework - look the product up online, call the company. it's a pain in the butt, but it may allow you to buy a mainstream product at a mainstream grocery store, which can save you a bundle as compared to buying a specialty product at a specialty store. but be very careful - remember that gluten will never be listed as "gluten" on an ingredient list. call the companies, ask the questions, and be your own advocate.

(some companies that i like are mccormick for spices, heinz for ketchup, simply naturals for pasta sauce, pace for salsa, kraft for dressings, original lays or kettle chips)